baby rat that was a runt what to feed

This article is from the Summertime I 1998 AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales news-magazine and is in the AFRMA Breeding Book. Run into the AFRMA Breeding Rats & Mice, Intendance and Guidelines book for more on orphans.

For those that take in orphan wild rodents, there is the possibility of them having parasites or diseases that can exist harmful or fatal to other pet rodents or humans. Care must exist taken when dealing with them.

Past Karen Robbins

This mouse (the low-cal 1) was fostered onto a rat 2 days after her mom died. The rat just happened to have this litter built-in the same day as the mouse. The baby rats considered her their sibling. Photo ©1993 Craig Robbins.

Occasionally you volition find babies who take lost their mom. The best thing to practice is to try and find another nursing female with babies the same age and a pocket-sized family of her own and then she tin can accept the foster babies. If you practice have some other mom able to accept the orphans, accept her out, take all the babies and rub them all together in your hands so they all smell the same or place the new babies in with the others and roll them around and leave for a few minutes or rub a bit of soiled litter on the new babies. If you are unable to find a foster mom (you tin put orphan mice on a nursing rat mom and vice versa; rats are fantabulous mothers and will nurse nigh annihilation), then you can attempt feeding them yourself. However, your chances of successfully raising newborns are not good. If yous practice try to nurse these little guys yourself, yous volition need to feed them EVERY 2 hours, and then be prepared for some sleepless nights.

Formula

Every bit far equally a formula to utilise, many people have used different ones to their advantage. Whole, raw, fresh caprine animal milk; KMR® (Kitten Milk Replacer); Esbilac® (puppy formula); Enfamil (without atomic number 26); or Soyalac human being formula have all been used. The powdered formula is usually used rather than the liquid every bit you lot can mix upwards a fresh batch each 24-hour interval and the powder will final longer. The liquid formulas take to be used within 3 days subsequently opening. Lambert Kay™ makes a Mother'due south Helper™ puppy formula that tin can also exist used for rats and other orphan babies.

Rat & Mouse Milk Facts
	RATS	MICE
Fatty	13.0%	12.1%
Poly peptide	9.seven%	nine.0%
Lactose	3.two%	3.2%

MILK FORMULAS in society of fat amounts (in percentages)
Name	Protein	Fatty	Fiber	Moisture	Ash
Powder Formulas
Esbilac® puppy	33.0	40.0	0.0	v.0	7.75
Only Born® puppy	29.0	28.0	0.2	5.0	8.0
KMR® kitten	xl.0	27.0	0.0	5.0	seven.75
Just Born® kitten	33.five	eighteen.0	0.2	5.0	eight.0
Liquid Formulas
But Born® puppy	6.5	6.five	0.one	78.0	2.5
Esbilac® puppy	4.five	6.0	0.0	85.0
Mother's Helper™ puppy	iv.five	6.0	1.0	85.0	1.0
KMR® kitten	vii.5	4.5	0.0	82.0
Mother's Helper™ kitten	vii.0	4.iii	1.0	83.0	1.5
Just Born® kitten	vii.0	3.8	0.2	83.0	2.five
Caprine animal Milk	three.0–3.6	3.viii–iv.1		87.0

Milk Constituents In The Mouse (in percentages)
Full Solids	29.lxx +/- 0.64
Crude Fatty	13.twenty +/- 0.95
Crude Poly peptide	9.37 +/- 0.35
Lactose	two.25 +/- 0.xi
Rough Ash	1.08 +/- 0.05
Calcium	0.18 +/- 0.05
Potassium	0.26 +/- 0.00
A higher percentage of total solids including fat, poly peptide, calcium, and potassium simply a lower lactose percentage was obtained in mouse milk compared with the milk of some domestic animals (cattle, sheep, goats, and sows).

Rat Milk
Total Solids	27% (73% water)
Fat	47%
Protein	35%
Carbohydrates	12.5%
Ash	five.5%
KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) contains most 18% solids (82% water). The solids are 25% fat, 42% protein, 26% carbohydrates, and 7% ash. KMR has less than half the fat content of rat milk which is the major energy source. Newborn rats do not have much energy stored, and then need the higher fatty content in the milk.

Nursing

A baby bird feeding syringe with a fine curved tip or a very small doll nursing bottle volition work equally a nurser. You can as well utilise a piece of absorptive string, acting like a wick from bottle to babe, for the very small ones until they are big enough to grasp the bottle tip itself. Another idea is to have a piece of small plastic tubing (strip the plastic tubing off a slice of wire—22 or 24 judge for mice; fourteen to twenty approximate for rats) virtually ½ to 1 inch long. You can and then insert this tubing into your syringe or nipple of a nurser bottle. Four Paws® makes an Easy Feeder™ Hand Feeding Syringe For Small Animals that has two syringes in the pack—ane with a nipple tip and one with a tapered tip. The tapered tip syringe has an opening equivalent to a size 12–xiv guess wire tubing. The baby bird feeding syringe has a tip equivalent to a 22 gauge wire tubing. Also, yous tin can get a gluing tip from a hobby/dazzler supply store. Oestrus up the tip and skid information technology on the syringe. This will "glue" information technology to the syringe.

Feed small amounts at each feeding, being careful not to become any in their lungs (if y'all see milk bubbling from their olfactory organ, it's an indication some is getting into their lungs). Always feed warm (not hot or cold) formula to your babies.

Y'all can tell when their tummies are full by the white patch in the left heart of their bellies (do not over feed). Information technology will take about five minutes to feed each 1.

. . . you will need to feed them EVERY 2 hours, and then exist prepared for some sleepless nights.

Don't exist discouraged if they appear smaller than others their age. This is common with hand-raised babies. Sometimes they will even lose their hair for a short time, merely it will eventually grow back.

Care

After you feed each babe, they volition demand y'all to massage their abdomen and rectal area with a warm, damp cloth to stimulate them to urinate and laissez passer solid wastes. Y'all will need to do this until they are eliminating on their own. Call back to e'er handle these guys carefully as they are very minor.

It is very of import to keep these piddling guys warm at all times. Many people use the plastic critter carriers lined with a towel and either a hot h2o bottle under the towel or an electric heating pad (prepare on the lowest setting) with the carrier placed on it. (The temperature of the nest should be between 75°F (24°C) and 90°F (32°C).) This makes information technology easy to take them with you to work or schoolhouse to feed them on their schedule.

Diarrhea

Diarrhea is one trouble you may encounter when feeding these small rodents. The main crusade is over feeding. Another cause can be coccidiosis—a one-celled internal parasite that can be diagnosed by your veterinary. Dehydration occurs with diarrhea no affair what the crusade and tin can kill the babies if not treated promptly. You will need to cease giving all milk to your orphans and replace it with the aforementioned amount of electrolyte solution for homo infants. Milk will irritate the digestive tract and prolong the diarrhea. Your babies will need, not just the fluids from the electrolyte solution, but also the salts and chemicals it contains. It will ofttimes be necessary to also requite a few drops of kaolin-pectin every ii hours to help halt the diarrhea.

Weaning

Once the babies open up their eyes, you tin start adding dry out baby cereal to their formula (make certain it will pass through the tip of the nurser) as well as cutting downward on the nightly feedings. You can start to wean them off the canteen and onto a dish when they are about iii weeks old. Dip your finger in the gruel mixture and let them lick it off your fingers. Subtract the amount of bottle feedings and give their repast in a small dish iii to iv times a twenty-four hour period. You tin can offset to add different things like oatmeal, staff of life, lab block pulverisation, and baby food to their mixture. Also by this time, they will start to crumb on $.25 of apple, carrot, fruits, seeds, etc. Make sure fresh water is besides bachelor at all times as they will commencement to beverage from a bottle. Give fresh meals each time, taking out whatever uneaten foods. You volition likewise need to make clean them up afterwards they swallow as they are very messy eaters. They tin can lose their coats and go baldheaded temporarily if they are left dirty.

With lots of love and a proper nutrition, your babies will abound up to match their relatives in size (they will outmatch them in temperament though!).

If your babies made information technology this far, you volition take some exceptionally wonderful pets equally they meet you equally mom and have strongly bonded with you. You should feel very proud in raising these very difficult babies! With lots of dear and a proper diet, your babies will grow up to match their relatives in size (they will outmatch them in temperament though!).

Some additional data on raising orphans:

• Evaporated milk has been used successfully to enhance mice. Plain cow's milk shouldn't be used as information technology doesn't support adequate growth of orphan rats.
• A fine tipped paint brush is another option to use to feed babe mice.
• Other articles to cheque out:
  "Amount to Hand Feed Orphan Baby Rats"
  "Amount to Paw Feed Orphan Baby Mice"
  "Orphan Mouse Won't Eat"
  "Orphan Field Mice"
• "Bloat" can exist caused from over feeding, gas in the belly, the formula being likewise concentrated, or feeding too quickly. Creek Valley Critters has a video on dehydration and bloat in a baby domestic mouse.
• There are several videos on YouTube by Aud Fischer of Creek Valley Critters in Canada. She also has a homemade formula using goat milk (this is as well in the commodity Bootleg Formula For Babe Mice forth with a homemade pedialyte formula).
• The WildAgain Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. site has information on various formulas.
• We have had a couple questions on orphan mice on AFRMA's Facebook page: from Kimberly Martin DeVolld (x-13-11, ten-15-11, 12-30-eleven) who raised a couple field mice; and from Esha Vogel (5-three-12, 5-ix-12, vi-2-12, half-dozen-thirty-12) on raising a domestic mouse.
• At that place is now a Goat's Milk Esbilac formula.
• Refusing to eat initially could exist from the milk/particular used to give them the milk is foreign, they are too cold, too weak, sick, or injured. Pedialyte/electrolyte solution should be given when you kickoff find an orphan creature to get them rehydrated before starting them on a milk formula.
• Fox Valley Animal Diet, Inc., Lakemoor, IL, makes a squirrel milk replacer with 20 protein/50 fat Twenty-four hour period One 20/50, 1 for rabbits, squirrels, and opossums with 32 poly peptide/twoscore fat Day I 32/forty, i for Golden Hamsters with forty poly peptide/25 fat Solar day One forty/25, and a Solar day One Ultra Boost high-fat creamer additive to add to formula or food with 25 protein/54 fatty for all animals.
• Squirrels and More has a mini Miracle Nipple that is small enough for orphan rats that you put on a 1 ml (one cc) slip-tip or luer lock syringe (they also sell a .05 ml (one-half cc) syringe).
  
• Hantavirus is in many wild rodents. Intendance must exist taken when dealing with these species.

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Source: https://www.afrma.org/orphanrm.htm

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